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New Quality Study Shows Ford is Second To None
The quality of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brand vehicles soared to the top of the charts equaling that of Toyota and Honda, according to the first quarter 2008 U.S. Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study conducted by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
The study shows Ford’s domestic (US) brands improved 8
percent versus last year with a combined average of 1,284
things-gone-wrong (TGW) per 1,000 vehicles during the first
three months of ownership. This performance is statistically
equivalent to the 1,250 TGW level of Honda and Toyota.
“Last year we tied with Toyota, and this year our quality
performance is as good as industry-leading Honda’s too,”
said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas.
“Our world-class quality is one of the most important
aspects of our turnaround in North America.
Fields added: “This consistently strong quality improvement
should offer today’s customer renewed confidence, setting
the stage for important new products like Ford Flex, which
is launching this summer.”
Hussein Murad, Sales and Marketing director of Ford Middle
East said: “This is another great achievement for Ford,
Lincoln and Mercury proving that our continued efforts in
raising the quality bar is paying off. This recognition
gives further boost to our recent launches and is a great
build up towards our upcoming product introductions,
especially with the Ford Flex and Fusion and the Lincoln MKS.”
The company earned best-in-class honors in two important
engineering functions: interiors, which includes such areas
as trim, seats and instrument panel appearance; and
electrical, which includes entertainment systems. Ford tied
for best-in-class in two other functions, paint and vehicle
engineering, which includes such areas as ride and handling
and cabin quietness.
Additionally, Ford’s domestic brands pushed customer
satisfaction up one point to 77 percent.
“There is an unprecedented level of teamwork at Ford.
Everyone from the top floor to the plant floor is working
together to deliver the highest quality vehicles for our
customers,” said Bennie Fowler, Ford’s group vice president
of Global Quality. “We are extremely proud to be among the
industry’s quality leaders. But that’s not why we’re in the
game. We want sole possession of first place, and we will
keep working to earn it.”
A total of 15 Ford, Lincoln, Mercury vehicles are ranked in
the top three of their respective segments for either TGW
performance, customer satisfaction or both.
The following models are segment leaders:
-
Ford Mustang Shelby
GT500 – TGW for sports car
-
Ford Five Hundred –
customer satisfaction for large car
-
Ford Sport Trac –
customer satisfaction for medium traditional utility
-
Mercury Milan – TGW for
midsize car
-
Lincoln Navigator – TGW
and customer satisfaction for large premium utility
The new 2008 Ford Taurus (called Five Hundred in the Middle
East) and Mercury Sable (called Mercury Montego in the
Middle East) both recorded quality levels that equate to
less than one problem per vehicle, as did the Volvo S80
(947). The Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ were close, with
1,030 TGW and 1065 TGW, respectively.
The Five Hundred also led a string of impressive new
vehicles launched in 2007. Five Hundred showed a 33 percent
quality improvement compared with the product it replaced.
The new Ford Escape improved 16 percent over the out-going
model.
In fact, 36 of 40 Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda
nameplates improved this year versus 2007.
The 2008 first quarter U.S. GQRS study, which RDA Group
conducts for Ford, asks customers of all major makes and
models to comment on troubles and rate their overall
satisfaction with their three-month-old vehicles. The survey
includes vehicles registered from September 2007 through
November 2007.
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